lovingkindness Archives – Sonshine's Journal

August 19, 2022August 19, 2022

The God I serve!

Jeremiah 5/Gen 18 Have you ever felt the deepness of a heart’s sadness? The world seems shattered, and the residents see death all around them. At times like this, our words lay fallow in our prayers—or so we think. We wonder, as Jeremiah did, Is there any good news, or Is it all bad news? But step aside and listen: God asks Jeremiah to go and “See if you can find a single person who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. If you can, then I will not punish this city.” [Jer 5:1] Does this ring a bell about another story with a similar thread? In Gen 18, Abraham and the Lord God conversed about Sodom and Gomorrah. Our merciful God had quietly shared with Abraham: “I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests; if NOT, I want to know.” [Gen 18:20-21]

By definition, we say one of God’s characteristics is His omniscience. God is “compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth.” [Ps 145:8] Because He is that and more and not an arbitrary idol god, He always thoroughly investigates a situation before passing judgment and sending calamity. He judges the evidence just as a judge does in a courtroom. God does the same for each of us. Are you thankful today that God judges righteously and not capriciously?

How grateful I am to serve God with these character qualities; How about you?

September 30, 2015

But then….

Beloved, are you praising God or are you struggling? Psalm 108-109 show us the opposing sides of life’s coin. Together they teach this principle: in all of life we must be God centered and focused.

How often do we quote Psalm 23 and invoke its beauty and add that to our repertoire of prayers as we begin our day. We fall in love with Jesus as we “sing and praise with our whole heart. [vs 1] We encourage ourselves with vs 2 “I will wake up at dawn.” We evoke the words of vs 4 “your lovingkindness is great above the heavens.” BUT then… life interrupts and we are faced with those intimidating circumstances. What then? The imprecatory Psalm 109 is one of the strongest and it flies in the face of what we say is so unChristlike. But, there are valuable lessons to be gleaned from Psalm 109 and it is this: Heart preparation is key to all of life; whether life is sunny times or stormy.

God has left these psalms to teach us how to face all of life. We are to praise Him for His majesty and his lovingkindness. But we are also to seek his face when things go awry and life is so very very hard. Psalm 108 begins “I am determined” and Psalm 109 ends with “I will greatly praise the Lord.” Take heart Beloved; God loves us with an everlasting love in the sunny times and in the stormy times.

Photo: David Hanlon Dreamstime.com + added thoughts

October 4, 2013

Psalm 108 “When Morning Gilds the Skies”

What was your morning like today? Did you wake up chipper and raring to go or dragging? How do you begin your day, with or without a time alone with God? King David was both a morning person and also a night owl. Although busy with kingdom issues, David found time to be alone with God in reading and in prayer. God was his priority no matter the kingdom or family issues before him. We would be wise to learn from him how to juggle our thoughts and our time.

Ps 108 begins with this thought: my heart is fixed or steadfast, my heart is confident or as the MSG puts it “I’m ready, God, so ready from head to toe.” When we begin our time alone with God can we say we are ready to hear from him or are our minds so saturated with the busyness before us that we find it hard to focus?

David continues on to share how he gets ready to be with God; he sings and praises God with all of his heart. This alerts our mind to focus in on who God is and prepares us to listen to him. What song comes to mind when you think of praising Him? Here’s one of old:

When morning gilds the skies

my heart awakening cries:

May Jesus Christ be praised!

Alike at work and prayer,

to Jesus I repair:

May Jesus Christ be praised!

In vs 2 David says awake, O stringed instrument and harp. Long ago often they would place their stringed instruments near to their place of sleep much like you place your alarm clock by your bed. But instead of that buzz, buzz, buzz, they would hear the breezes flowing and touching the strings which would cause the strings to vibrate and awaken them with beautiful music. What a beautiful picture of how God’s gentleness touches us.

Once awake David, as he did in Ps 57:7-11 and Ps 60: 5-12 (repetition of this psalm), began to give praises to God for his lovingkindness and his faithfulness. He is overwhelmed by the thought that God is so great that these two attributes extend beyond the sky. God is limitless as are his attributes; they span the universe that even we cannot see or fathom.

As you ponder who God is and think ahead, why not make a date with God for your time alone with him in the wee hours of the morning and let His breezes awaken you to His soft voice proclaiming His lovingkindness and faithfulness. What a marvelous tool to start our day!

September 30, 2013

And all of the people said “Praise the Lord!”

The writer of these psalms wisely counsel us to praise the Lord for He is God, and His lovingkindness is ever before us in all we see and experience. “While we are studying this holy Psalm, let us all along see ourselves in the Lord’s ancient people, and bemoan our own provocations of the Most High, at the same time admiring his infinite patience, and adoring him because of it. May the Holy Spirit sanctify it to the promotion of humility and gratitude.” [Spurgeon]

The psalmist begins with a hallelujah chorus and we would do well to begin our prayer time in this way. Vs 2 reminds us that God’s mightiness is recounted but our memories and our words are inadequate for God is greater than what we could ever tell. Joh 21:25 There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

So who can tell? Only those who walk in close communion with God and have been anointed with the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit for he Joh 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit …will cause you to remember everything I said to you. It is then that we are able to recount and tell of the mighty deeds which God has done, maybe not to the fullest, but our memories will be so filled with His love and power that we are like the psalmist will stand in awe of God and be humbled. It is then that we say with the psalmist: 107:1 “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” It is when we begin and end our meditation with these thoughts that we are satisfied because we have hungered and thirsted: Matt 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” It is then that we are emboldened like the Samaritan woman to her village or Andrew to Nathanael will say “Come and see…” Come and see the man who is Messiah, come and see for yourself that this is the one we have waited for. It is then that we say with the psalmist “107:2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out,” and we end with “Let all the people say, “We agree! Praise the Lord!”

August 1, 2013

Not Rejected….Redirected!~

Recently I a precious friend posted this note after having lived through “hell and back.”

“I’ve been thinking that I’d been rejected these past two years. God told me today that wasn’t true, I’ve been redirected. His plans are always best and I always trust in His guidance and love. Feeling really in love with God and His Word lately. It’s a real good feeling.”

This captures in a nutshell the entire message of Ps 74 and exactly what Asaph was saying as he penned this psalm and is now here for us to ponder. As you ponder think about these words:

Listen to Asaph as he pleads for understanding from God. Three times he asks why and this is exactly what we are to do when we are facing a conundrum. Asaph rightly asks three questions:

Why have you permanently rejected us? Skip over to Rom 11:1 and see how Paul answered that question: 11:1 “So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not!” and again in Hebrews the author reminds us of this timeless truth: “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” Asaph surely knew this as a principle from Deut “he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!” But in his despair this is how he was viewing his nation’s predicament. Perhaps you too have felt this way because of some circumstance you are facing. Listen again to my friend’s words: God told me! When God speaks it is with words of lovingkindness to remind us of His steadfast and loyal love.

Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Again Asaph implores God to remember his people as the sheep who are vulnerable, pitiful, without understanding and in need of direction. Asaph knew this principle: Joh 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. That is why he could be so bold to seek the attention of his king (note vs . 12…God is my king) The circumstance was still before him but as one of God’s own, God’s sheep he could trust in God’s leadership at the appointed time.

Why do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand? Asaph is asking God for understanding as to why God has not used his power and might as king of Israel to restore the nation from the barbarians. The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy. That is the boldness of a believer. We can ask and seek God’s power to be revealed and He will. “Expect God to act and He will.”

From vs 11 onward Asaph comes to terms with his requests much like Job. “Indeed, I am completely unworthy – how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.” And yet as a child of God we have the blessing of being able to enter in to the holiest of holies. Heb 4:16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help. He pleads with God to reveal His power. Now, when we move to Ps 75 we see the answer to the prayer of Asaph: God says, “At the appointed times, I judge fairly…For I am the judge! I bring one down and exalt another.”And that is the total reason why we can trust in God and rely upon His timing and perfect plan.

Asaph now declares much like my friend: 75:9 As for me, I will continually tell what you have done; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob! That is the whole answer when we are faced with life’s challenges and find ourselves being drawn down into the pit of despond. Lifting up God and praising Him redirects our thinking and elevates our spirits to the highest level. Where are you feeling rejected? Ask God to reveal His redirection plan for you!